1 week Ago By [email protected] (Jenni Horn)
The Historic Dockyard Chatham offers loads for a family day out - with ships and a submarine to explore, a huge RNLI exhibition, hands-on galleries, playgrounds, a soft play and a quarter-of-a-mile-long ropery. But we visited for one specific reason - Lego. The attraction is currently hosting the internationally acclaimed exhibition Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO Bricks.
The display is making its UK debut at the Dockyard so we’re very lucky to have it on our doorstep here in Kent until the end of August. Created in partnership with the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Western Australian Museum, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the tales of iconic shipwrecks, brought to life through amazingly intricate models made from thousands of bricks. My two young Lego fans couldn’t wait to see them.
When you arrive at the Dockyard there’s a large car park that’s free for visitors - make sure you give your car registration at the ticket desk when you go in. If you arrive early before the doors have opened (it opens at 10am) there’s a playground to keep the kids happy while you wait. Once through the busy ticket office we were directed down a slope to the Command of the Oceans section of the attraction.
Here we were greeted by a friendly staff member who was able to give us a bit more information about what was on offer around the Dockyard. She booked us onto a tour of the Ocelot submarine as these are done at certain times in small groups and told us the next Hearts of Oak tour was about to start just to the right of where we’d arrived. Hearts of Oak is described as a “walking cinema”.
It is a self-guided walk-through exhibition with video displays telling the story of how ships were made at the Dockyard during the heyday of the Age of Sail. We were off to a great start - the dark, cobbled pretend streets and visual displays captured the children’s interest perfectly. At the end, there’s a chance to have a go at ship-building skills yourself and other hands-on displays.
Our second stop was the RNLI exhibition. This is a huge display of boats under one of the covered slips. The children enjoyed it because there were boats you could board and other interactive bits like having a go at rowing.
Next door is another slip with displays of large-scale objects and vehicles from the Royal Engineers Museum and Imperial War Museum collections. Here you can climb the stairs (or take the lift) to the mezzanine floor of the slip which is really impressive. Then it was back across the Dockyard to the No.
1 Smithery building to see what we had come for - the Lego exhibition. It features models of eight renowned shipwrecks made from than 170,000 bricks. The displays include HMS Pandora, HMS Terror and the oldest known shipwreck, Uluburun.
But I think the most impressive was a model of the bow of the Titanic dangling from the ceiling, recreating the moment it plunged towards the seabed after the vessel broke in two. The level of detail on all the models was amazing and each one has information about how long it took to make and how many bricks it used. The Titanic one alone took 113 hours to complete, with 12,847 bricks.
There was an area to sit and make your own model ships. My two spent ages here and it was a struggle to get them away. It’s not like they don’t have plenty of Lego at home to play with but I think it was because they had big boxes of bricks to delve into that made it such a hit.
There was also an area with Duplo bricks for younger children to play with and another with even bigger bricks for under fives. As well as Lego building, the exhibition offered lots of other hands-on activities such as scanning a shipwreck and sinking a model ship. We spent so long in here, that it was then time for lunch.
There are two places to choose from to eat at the Dockyard - the Mess Deck restaurant at the entrance which serves hot food as well as snacks or the Wagon Stop Canteen. The latter is where we headed as it includes a soft play area. While only small, this was a big hit with my two and another place we struggled to get them out of! You can eat your own food here or buy something - there was plenty of choice of hot and cold food, hot drinks, cakes and snacks.
We had brought a picnic but also brought two coffees, a portion of waffle fries and a cake which cost £11.30. If it is warm enough to sit outside, there are plenty of tables that offer great views of the surrounding historic buildings, or you can take a picnic to The Commissioner’s Garden.
After lunch there was loads more to pack into our afternoon, including exploring the Victorian sloop HMS Gannet, which to the kids looked a bit like a pirate ship, and the destroyer HMS Cavalier. Nestled between these two is the Cold War submarine HMS Ocleot, where we had been booked on for a tour. This was a brilliant experience - you had to clamber through the small hatches and be careful not to bang your head as you squeezed through small walkways.
Max and Millie both loved the tour and it got them thinking about what life would have been like working in the confined spaces for weeks on end. Next, we headed towards the far end of the Dockyard where the ropery and Steam, Steel and Submarines exhibitions both are. But of course the kids got distracted by the playground so this is where we spent the next half an hour.
I think the whole attraction has been really well thought out - there are plenty of places for parents or grandparents to sit while children have fun. What struck me as we walked around was seeing several generations of families enjoying a day out together. I think the Dockyard offers something for children, parents and grandparents - and can even take your four-legged friends but dogs are not allowed in any of the galleries or onboard the ships.
There was just time to visit the Steam, Steel and Submarines exhibition which includes “selfie-spots”and dressing up but then we ran out of time to visit the ropery. We got as far as the accompanying exhibition but it closed five minutes later - half an hour before the Dockyard closes at 5pm. It was a bit disappointing but it means we’ll be back for another visit.
Your tickets for the attraction last 12 months so you can visit again and again. I think that makes the cost for a family ticket well worth the money. Food and drink: Plenty to choose from in the Wagon Stop canteen where we ate, I liked that you could bring your own food and sit indoors with it, and grab a coffee or a cake at the same time.
***** Toilets: These are dotted around so you are never too far from one. They are at the entrance, near the RNLI exhibition, near the playground and possibly others I didn’t spot. The ones we went in were very clean ***** Parking: Free and plenty of it.
Make sure you give your car registration at the main desk so it is free ***** Cost: A family ticket for two adults and two children was £76 online (or £84 if you paid on the day). These last for 12 months so I think they are well worth it ***** Kids’ verdict: Millie said: “There was lots to do at the Dockyard, I would give it five out of five. I liked the pirate ship the best.
” Max said: “The Dockyard is really good because there is so much to do there. My favourite bit was the submarine.” ***** Location: The Dockyard is located just off the A289 near the Medway Tunnel.
If using a sat nav, use the postcode is ME4 4TZ..
